Jan Huyghen van Linschoten

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, (born 1563, Haarlem, Holland [now in the Netherlands]—died Feb. 8, 1611, Enkhuizen, Neth.), Dutch traveler and propagandist who served in Portuguese Goa (India), sailed with Willem Barents, and wrote an influential description of Asian trade routes.

As bookkeeper to the archbishop of Goa, Linschoten spent six years (1583–89) in India. After his return to the Netherlands, he wrote two books containing valuable information about the peoples and customs of the country; these books were influential in stimulating early Dutch and English trade expeditions to India and the East Indies.

In 1594 and 1595 he sailed with the Dutch navigator Willem Barents in search of a northeast passage to the Orient via the Arctic. Both voyages ended icebound in the Kara Sea. In 1601 Linschoten published his journal of these explorations.